When I started riding my Soma Juice for commuting, it was still a mountain bike with a suspension fork, a suspension seatpost and 2.25" Kenda Nevegal knobby tires. I quickly swapped to a rigid fork and a standard seatpost. The next step was to find some appropriate tires.I had a pretty good idea what I wanted. It should be a tire that would roll well, but had enough tread to handle the sand on the road. I also wanted to be able to ride on some moderate trails. After searching long and hard, I settled on a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Cross (700x38) tires. These tires have an almost smooth herringbone pattern down the center with some small knobbies along the sides. With all of the snow on the ground, it will be a while before I can try these on the trail, but they certainly do the trick on the road.
With the new tires installed, I was able to put on some full-coverage fenders. I chose a set of SKS P45 fenders, which are pretty nice - for fenders. The front fender was a bit tricky to install, though. Because the fork is suspension corrected and meant for MTB tires, there is about four inches of clearance between the top of the tire and the underside of the crown. The fender wasn't designed for so much clearance so I needed to fashion my own mounting bracket. I used some metal strapping and mounted a U-shaped piece to the brake mount. I then mounted the fender to the metal strapping. Problem solved.
2 comments:
Hi,
I went from Continental Townride 700x37c tires to Marathon Extremes 700x40c because I wanted better grip for wet conditions and on gravel. The Extremes make me feel much safer and in control of the bike, but I do seem a bit slower and was thinking of switching to Marathon Crosses 700x38c.
Judging by the somewhat similar tread pattern and Schawlbe's own rating system, it would seem that the Marathon Cross is like a lighter duty (slightly more speed, slightly less grip) version of the Marathon Extreme. After having the Marathon Cross tires for over 3 years now, how do you find them?
Thank you!
-Myles
Stick with the Marathon Extremes. They are what I use when doing a lot of dirt road riding. My Marathon Cross tires have been collecting dust.
Even though the Marathon Extremes are wider than the Marathon Cross, they are a good bit lighter. The Marathon Cross has a wire bead and uses a heavier puncture protection technology.
The Marathon Cross also has a profile that is more square. This can sometimes lead to an unsettling transition when leaning into a turn.
When I'm riding primarily on pavement, I use Marathon Supremes 700x35c. These are faster tires and work well in wet conditions.
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